Flower Essences: Little Gems in a Bottle

[Pat Robinson]

[Guest blog post from  Amy Hendrickson at Grateful Heart Healing Energy. ]

 

There is such a wide variety of energy medicine options, and although all are attainable, flower essences have a great affinity towards ease of use, and an openness for play.  As time has gone on, I’ve noticed how flower essences have just naturally integrated into my daily life.  I adore both their simplicity and depth of healing power.  I love that I don’t have to fiddle with dosage or strength. 

I love that at least for the Bach English line you can buy them at your local health food store.  Most of all, I love flowers.  I love their energy.  I love what they tell me when I cradle them in my hands. I love when I rest my head against them, feeling the petals, smelling the fragrance, my soul open, still, and accepting of the gift of healing energy that flowers have to give.

I use the English Bach line on occasion.  I have a real passion for the Australian Bush Flower Essence line.  They speak so deeply to me, making my heart all aflutter.   I love working both intuitively and

Mountain Devil

intellectually on a blend, combining both skills to create a blend that can help a person shift their energy towards health. If you wish to experiment with the Australian line, I have found some clear and easy to use reference books written by Ian White that have made a world of difference to me.

Old Man Banksia

These bottles and the energy that they hold have become such an integral part of my home life that I  sometimes think of my family’s experiences, expressions of feelings, physical ailments and spiritual development as expressions of particular flower energies. 

When my 6 year old goes thrashing around ready for a fight, I describe him as Mountain Devil.  Sometimes when I am feeling lethargic and heavy, I am having an Old Man Banksia morning.  My mantra for a while when I was feeling extra critical of others was, "when I'm feeling b*tchy, it's time for a little Beech-y."

Life became a bit chaotic about a week or two before the summer solstice, and I noticed I was pulling out my beloved flowers quite a bit.  They helped me keep my sanity, and helped shift us back to a better state.

At that time, I found myself reacting to my toddler daughter's tantrums - her screaming, clingy expressions of fear and frustration.  My reaction of irritation, tension and my emotionally and physically pulling away from her increased her own fears and made things much worse.  Because nothing makes a toddler panic more than watching her mother run from her, hide in another room, and yell "stop! I can't take it anymore!"  Yep, she was certainly calm, cool and collected after that. lol.  I was allowing myself to fall deeper into my worries over her and feel totally worn out by the problem solving and care-taking. 

Some drops of Alpine Mint Bush, Crowea, and Dog Rose of the Wild Forces (isn't that the best name??) put in water for me to sip at-will helped me to even out, release my emotional exhaustion and have the capacity to be more emotionally present.  This transformation in me allowed my sweetie to calm down a bit.  Like all mothers and fathers with their children, she and I are a dyad. We feed off each others' energy, whether the emotions are good or bad.  I'm so grateful that I was able to shift it to the good,

Alpine Mint Bush

and help both of us.

It was that day when I decided it was time again for some intuitively picked flower essence blends for different members of my family.  For both my flower essence blend business and my family, I intuitively pick flowers that often combine together to help a person release emotions and physical pain and move forward to a greater balance in health.  The intuitively selected flowers also give me a picture of how the individual is doing. 

The blend made for my daughter that day showed me the fear and uncertainty my toddler was experiencing.  "You are safe." was the affirmation chosen that I whisper to her whenever she takes a dose. Two weeks later, she was still taking it. I was still whispering.  And, she is doing much, much better.

I also made a blend for my son. The flowers revealed to me the isolation and loneliness he had been experiencing, but wasn't sure how to express.  A handful of days later, I heard him clearly saying when he wanted to be alone, when he was missing companionship, when he wanted some connecting time with me, and when he felt his older brother was monopolizing the family's attention.  (My two boys are classic attention craving first-born and fall-into-the-cracks middle-born children.)

It was a sad blend for me to make. I felt that maybe I was failing him, but, I celebrated every time he empowered himself by appropriately stating his social needs.  My sweet, loving, fiery Max continues to grow and be who he needs to be, with increased tools and more soothed emotions.

 

I haven't had to use Beech from the Bach line in a long time.  For a while, I pulled it out regularly, and it helped me release so many icky emotions.  About a year ago, after my deep need for beech was over, but my love and attachment for it was still strong, I dropped the Beech glass bottle on my counter, breaking it and causing the essence to spill all over.  Panicking over my loss, I looked left and right, turned a bit, and then kind of dove into the puddle.  Yes, I did it.  I licked some of it up.  lol.  Now that's how much Beech means to me.

During our week of chaos, I felt really frustrated with my dear husband.  I had expected some things to get done while the kids and I were away, and when we arrived home the work  very, very clearly was not done.  I felt the familiar tightness in my throat, and the critical thoughts.  Intellectually, I knew he needed that time for himself to just recharge, and I felt ok about it all.  But, oh boy, my emotions, and my thoughts.  I hated where I was going.  I hated the nit-picky thoughts I was having.  The pity party I was having.  The annoyance that started to spill over into my reactions to my kids. 

I pulled out my familiar Beech bottle, put some in water and sipped.  As a couple of hours passed, I could feel myself relax and release.  The irritation became less so, and my intellectual thoughts turned into my natural emotional response.  He truly did need some time off, and to be completely honest - the kids and I were the ones who left that mess during our whirlwind packing explosion a few days before. 

By the time my husband came home, I felt like my normal self.  My normal compassionate self who could say, 'yeah I was a bit bummed that it was messy, but the boys and I got it done, no worries."

 

So what do you call it when you try to go to sleep and just can't? 

When your mind whirs and whirs, and you flip flop around?  I didn't have a name for it, but some of my friends call it "monkey brain."  During that week, I was upset about something (not my hubby : ) and I just couldn't get to sleep.  I had already had my cry.  I had my talk again and again with my sweet man.  Yet, it was all still there, jumping around in my brain.  I went into my tiny office and sat with my bottles, just trying to be calm, and become sleepy. 

Boronia, from the Australian line, helps to still the mind.  I took some, and just chilled a bit. I felt myself relax and yawn.  taadaa.  It was the first time I used Boronia this way.  This sweet bottle is a keeper.

Boronia

Finally, Mulla Mulla is fantastic for burns of all sorts.  This fall I used it on my son when he burned his arm on the stove. I saw some of his flesh glowing on the burner as I hustled him over to the sink.  (bleh)  After tossing some Emergency Essence (the Australian version of Rescue Remedy) into both of our mouths.  I put some Mulla Mulla in cool water for him to soak his arm, and put a few drops in his mouth.  I used a variety of energy healing and herbal healing to help him heal, reduce pain, and feel calm.  I was amazed by how quickly that burned healed. 

Mulla Mulla is also very good for sunburns.  We take it internally after a long day at the beach - for when you have that fried feeling.  It helps your body remove radiation, and just helps your skin heal a bit faster.  We tend to use it in early summer as we become used to the summer sun, and when we are taking long trips in the car and the sun is pouring through the windows.  I tend to leave it out on the counter in May and June as we gently build our summer tan.

As time passes I fall deeper and deeper in love with flower essences.   Clearly they work for me, my family, and many of my clients rave about them.  Since there is very little user error, they feel very easy to use.  I find they are fun. I enjoy experimenting with them.  And at the very least, you get a tiny, tiny, tiny shot of brandy throughout the day.  lol.   And to be completely honest, I think that is a major reason why my family likes to use them.  ; )


To learn more about finding the best flower essences for you, visit Amy at Grateful Heart Healing Energy.   Or sign up for her newsletter:    http://eepurl.com/mp8Jn